Guys' Weekend Out
by EsmeAmelia
Summary: Han and Luke decide to spend a weekend together, but Han gets sick.


AN: You all know I don't own Star Wars. Anyway, I've seen a lot of Han and Luke friendship fics where Luke is sick/hurt/sad and Han takes care of him. Nothing wrong with that – some of them are really good fics – but I've noticed there are very few fics where it's the other way around, so I'm writing one. Also, there are a few references to Luke's wife Rianna and his kids Mae and Owen from my other fics, but you don't need to have read them in order to enjoy this one.

"Guys' Weekend Out"

By EsmeAmelia

As the Falcon touched down on Corellia, the two men inside were in high spirits. An entire weekend with no jobs, no wives, no children, no droids, just a chance for the brothers-in-law to relax. Luke had never been to Corellia, which meant Han was looking forward to showing him some of the highlights of his birth planet.

"Well kid, whaddya think?" Han asked as the two descended the Falcon's ramp into the setting sun.

Luke squinted up at the tall buildings that were already flashing their lights which advertised whatever show or eatery they housed. "Well, it's not as busy as Coruscant, but I like it that way."

"Knew you would," said Han, grinning at his brother-in-law. "C'mon, I got us a great hotel – pool, free breakfast, bar, the works." He tossed his suitcase from one hand to the other. "Let's check in and then I'm showin' you the nightlife."

"Right behind you," said Luke.

. . .

"Wow!" Luke exclaimed when they entered their hotel room. "You weren't kidding."

"Yeah, well bein' married to the President of the Senate has its perks," Han said as he dropped his suitcase on one of the twin beds. Each bed was covered in thick, comfortable-looking dark blue comforters, which were decorated with pictures of seashells. Next to one of the beds was a wall-sized window which offered a view of the beach in the distance. A glass table with two chairs stood near the opposite wall and a large holovid faced the beds, along with the doors to the closet and refresher. Holos of the beach and the cityscape decorated the walls.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," said Han, opening his suitcase and fumbling around for his towels. "Then I'm takin' you to a club."

"All right," said Luke, "so long as we can go to the beach tomorrow. And I want to see a holofilm at one of those giant theaters you were telling me about."

"Deal."

. . .

"So how's it been so far?" Rianna's hologram was asking from Luke's portable comm.

"Loud," Luke shouted in order to be heard over the club's blaring music. He kept having to tilt his comm this way and that in order to see his wife's hologram in the flashing colored lights. "Han sure knows where to party."

"You sound a bit out of breath – are you all right?" Rianna asked.

"I'm all right," Luke answered after a few breaths. "Han and I have been dancing quite a bit."

Rianna snickered. "I'll bet that's a sight. So where's that brother-in-law of mine?"

"He went to get a drink, do you want to talk to him?"

"No, that's fine," Rianna said with a grin. "Now don't _you_ drink too much."

"Oh come on," Luke said with mock haughtiness. "Don't forget, _Han's_ the family drunk, not me."

After the couple shared a laugh, Rianna pushed her thick black hair behind her shoulder and leaned forward, making her holographic face bigger. "I think the kids want to say good night to their daddy."

"Well, bring them in."

Rianna's hologram vanished and in few seconds, it was replaced by six-year-old Mae and three-year-old Owen, in their pajamas but looking far from sleepy.

"Hi Daddy!" they both said in unison.

"Hello, sweethearts! Are you being good for your mommy?"

"Yeah," said Mae, swaying from one side to the other. "We ordered dinner."

Luke grinned at his children. "You did? That sounds like fun."

"Yeah," said Owen. "Where's Unca Han?"

"Getting a drink," said Luke. "I'll tell him you said hi."

"Okay," said Owen. "Hi Unca Han!"

Luke had to force himself not to laugh at his son. "All right, now you two be good and go to bed when Mommy tells you. If you're good, I'll bring you home some presents."

"We'll be good, Daddy," said Mae, giving her little grin that pressed dimples in her cheeks.

"Yeah," said Owen. "Night!"

After his children hung up, Luke's comm immediately started beeping again. He answered it and there was Leia's hologram, her eyebrows down and her teeth ground.

"Leia?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Where's Han?" Leia asked in a frazzled voice. "I've been trying to call him for ten minutes and he hasn't answered his comm."

"Getting a drink," Luke answered.

"What? I can barely hear you."

"I said he's GETTING A DRINK!" Luke shouted over the music that was now making the floor vibrate under his feet. "Don't worry, I'll go get him."

The bar section of the nightclub wasn't hard to find, though Luke discovered that the music had made his ears rather numb. He weaved his way around the mostly empty tables until he found Han at a table in front of a holovid showing a smashball game. His mug was nearly full, his head was nestled on his arms – and he was fast asleep.

"What?" Leia exclaimed. "Don't tell me he's already drunk!"

Luke put the comm next to Han's mug and gently shook his brother-in-law's shoulder. "Hey, Han, your wife wants to talk to you."

"Mmm . . . what?" Han mumbled as he slowly looked up, squinting at Leia's hologram.

"Han?" Leia asked. "Are you drunk?"

Han glanced over at his beer. "No . . . don't think so . . . I only got one drink."

"Then explain how you managed to sleep through your comm beeping."

Han yawned, blinking slowly at his wife. "Guess I was tired from the trip." He gave her a sheepish grin, still resting his head on his arm. "Don't worry hon, I got Luke here to make sure I don't get too drunk."

Leia rolled her eyes.

"If you ask me," said Luke, "I think we should head back to the hotel. I've had enough loud music for one night, anyway."

Leia nodded at her brother before turning back to her husband. "Well, if you can stay awake long enough, the kids want to say hi."

"Fine," said Han. "Bring 'em in."

. . .

The next morning, Han awoke to the sun blaring through the large window and a cough shaking his body. He pulled the covers over his face, his eyes closing again, the air struggling to get through the thick blockage in his nose. For a few moments he was thinking of nothing except going back to sleep.

"Hey Han, you awake?"

Luke's voice . . . right . . . they were on vacation. He poked his head out of the covers, once again squinting at the rays. Why did he want the bed closest to the window, again?

"Han? Hey, come on sleepyhead, I thought you said we were going to the beach today."

Han let out a long yawn that dissolved into a cough. "Beach . . . right . . ." He pushed himself to a sitting position, snuffling the blockage up his nose, then he tried to motivate himself to get out of bed, though his eyes were closing again, pulling him down, down, down . . .

"Han! Are you all right?"

Han jolted awake, seeing Luke standing next to the bed, staring at him with those wide eyes that had somehow remained boyish after all these years. "I'm fine, kid . . ."

"Well you don't _look_ fine," said Luke. "You look the _opposite_ of fine."

Han tried to respond, but a torrent of coughs came out instead, scratching his throat and pushing him forward. After a few seconds, he felt Luke's real hand patting his back.

"Go back to sleep," he said in a gentle voice. "I'll bring you some breakfast."

"No," Han croaked. "We're goin' to the beach, remember?"

"You want to go to the beach like this?" asked Luke. "Don't be silly."

More coughs pushed their way out of Han's mouth as Luke patted his back again. "Okay . . . okay . . ." Han sputtered, ". . . I'm sick, but _you_ can go to the beach."

"Then who will take care of you?"

"I don't need you to take care of me, kid." Han snuffled as he lay back down. "Go have fun, I'm fine."

"Not before getting you breakfast," said Luke, backing away and slipping out of the room before Han could protest.

. . .

Luke returned with Corellian oatmeal, juice, water, plenty of tissues, and cold medicine, all of which he arranged on a tray he placed on Han's lap. Han swallowed as he gazed down at the tray, though it inflamed his throat to do so.

"Where's _your_ food?" he asked, his voice coming out in a dry croak.

Luke shrugged at his friend. "I already ate. You were right – they have a really good breakfast bar."

Han dug into the tissues, blowing his nose several times before he was able to speak again. "Kid . . . you're goin' to the beach, right?"

Luke shifted his eyes.

"Luke," croaked Han, "we came here to have fun, remember? I don't want your fun ruined cause I'm sick."

"Han, don't worry," said Luke. "I'm fine."

" _I'm_ fine," Han coughed out. "You don't need to stay here."

Luke pointed to the tray. "Eat. If _you_ promise to concentrate on getting better, _I_ promise to have fun, okay?"

Han snuffled, feeling like the mucus was trying to make sure he'd never breathe through his nose again. "All right . . . fine." He didn't feel up to an argument anyway.

. . .

Han fell asleep shortly after breakfast and he slept into the afternoon, altering between uneven, forced breathing and loud, clogged snoring. Luke only left the hotel room to get himself lunch, which he brought back to the room on a tray. Now he was lounging on his bed, watching one of the hotel's travelogues on the holovid as he ate and periodically glanced over at Han as if just looking at him would help him feel better.

The travelogues constantly advertised Corellia's beaches, showing sparkling blue waves rolling onto the beach, people lounging in the sun, families eating together. Sometimes when Luke glanced over at Han he would also glance at the ocean through the window. The first time he saw a beach, Leia and Han had been with him, teaching him how to swim. He remembered being astonished that there could be so much water in one place that it would appear to go on forever.

The comm beeped, jolting Luke out of his thoughts and causing Han to stir. Luke quickly answered, keeping his eyes on Han, but the sick man didn't awaken.

Rianna's hologram appeared, two large shopping bags dangling from her arms. "Hey Luke," she said, "how's your weekend going?"

"It's been . . . interesting," said Luke, glancing over at Han again. "What are you up to?"

Rianna held up one of her bags. "Since you two get to have fun, Leia and I decided to take the kids to have fun too. We're at the mall right now."

"Oh . . . that's great." Luke couldn't stop himself from glancing at Han as if willing him to stay asleep. "So Leia's with you too?"

"Yeah," said Rianna, "and the twins, and Anakin, all of us. So what are you two doing?"

Luke swallowed. "Well . . . to be completely honest, we're at the hotel. I'm having lunch and Han's sleeping."

"Having a lazy afternoon?" Rianna asked with a knowing grin.

"No, not really. More like an afternoon with a sick brother-in-law."

"Han's sick?" Leia's familiar voice exclaimed. Within a moment, Leia's hologram replaced Rianna's. "Luke, what's going on?"

Luke shrugged. "Just what I said, Han's sick. I've been taking care of him."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Coughing, sneezing, stuffed nose, sore throat, exhausted, fever, the typical stuff," said Luke. "I don't think it's serious, if that's what you're asking."

"Can I see him?"

"I don't know . . . I don't really want to wake him up."

"Too late for that, kid."

Luke bit his lip as he turned to face a miserable-looking Han, blinking slowly as if barely awake. "Uh, I think he'd like to talk to you." Avoiding his brother-in-law's glare, he tossed the comm over to his bed, sensing that he'd be getting a lecture when the conversation was over.

. . .

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Luke asked once Han hung up the comm.

Han coughed as though something was stuck in his throat before he was able to answer. "You said you were gonna go to the beach, kid.""

"No I didn't," Luke said, hoping he didn't look too smug. "I said I was gonna have _fun._ "

Han lifted an eyebrow at his brother-in-law as if he thought he had gone crazy. "You think _this_ is fun?"

Luke shrugged. "Well let's see. A luxury hotel room, a nice view of the ocean, an all-you-can-eat buffet downstairs, and I get to take care of my best friend. Sounds like a pretty good weekend, if you ask me."

"You're weird, kid."

"Maybe I am," said Luke, "but hey, how about I get you some lunch and then we can watch the holovid together?"

Han groaned. "I guess . . . but this was gonna be our weekend where I show you all Corellia has to offer."

Luke shrugged again. "Well, there's always next time. This time we can just laze around together and you can work on getting better." He grinned awkwardly at his brother-in-law. "What do you say?"

Han gave a long, raspy sigh that turned into a cough. "Fine, fine. Guess there are worse ways to spend a weekend."

THE END


End file.
